one crazy STAMPIN' team

It's a WELCOME BLOG HOP......

today at myStampBOX and we are thrilled to introduce our new designers to you. Come visit all of our returning design members' blogs and you will be introduced to our new team members one by one. Make sure to leave a comment on each participating blog and another one once you are back here. On the way enjoy our welcoming cards made with our fun myStampBOX stamps.

But first we would like to say a huge THANKS to all the wonderful and talented designers that are leaving our team. A BIG thank you goes out to:

Jing-Jing Nickel
Lynda Lindley
Gudrun Loennecken
Cherie Nymeyer
Tracey Taylor
Leica Forrest
Virginie Delbecq
Monique Liedtke
Ellen Sosnoski

Thank you for your hard work over the last 6 months. You’ll always be a part of the myStampBOX family. Best wishes from all of us in your next endeavors!

Now… let’s find out more about who will be joining the myStampBOX design team. Follow the Blog Hop and visit each of our returning designer blogs. Each team member will be introducing a new member of our team. At each stop, please leave a comment and when the blog is complete, return to the myStampBOX blog and leave one final comment to have a chance to win a myStampBOX stamp set of your very own!

Allison Cope (http://yourmemoriescanada.blogspot.com/)
Jolene Johnston (http://jolenejohnston.blogspot.com/)
Agata Pfister (http://underconstruction-agata.blogspot.com/)
Jill Hildebrand (http://www.fromthefarm-jill.blogspot.com/)
Maryfrances Fabbri (http://maryfrancesfabbri.blogspot.com/)
Eva Pizarro (http://www.evascrap.blogspot.com/)
mSB Blog (http://mystampbox.com/blog/)

We hope you enjoy our little Welcoming Blog Hop!

Don’t forget to leave a comment on each one of the design team blogs and the mSB blog for your chance to win!
Good luck and happy hopping!

Now.......it's is a HUGE priviledge to introduce to you one of the new DT members:

{insert drumroll here}.................

STEPHANIE ACKERMANN

Hello. My name is Stephanie and I’m so excited and thrilled to be part of MyStampBOX. I live in New York with my husband, our 15 year old son, and our cute puppy. I am passionate about scrapbooking, card making and altering anything I can get my hands on. I love to create and often start something not knowing where it will lead me. I love to add Ink, stamps and sewing to much of my creations. I find my day is just not complete if I haven’t spent some time in my Studio.

You can chat with Stephanie if you email her at: stephanie_ackerman@hotmail.com

Here's a little "Congrats"-love I created just for you, Stephanie.

Welcome to the TEAM!!!!!

It'll be soooooo much fun getting to know you better & see you Rock it Out with some mSB stamp sets!!!!

Now…..leave a friendly comment on my blog and then go check out our next new design team member and a fun card at Maryfrances' blog: http://maryfrancesfabbri.blogspot.com/

hopping along with you {from the farm},
j.

inspiration Friday

from this .........to that ........

......and a little something else.

enjoy your weekend.

basking in the sunshine today {from the farm},

j.

surprise phone call

okay, i know, i know.....you've been waiting long enough for my exciting news and for me to introduce that fabulous company that i was chatting about a few weeks ago.

so, i was minding my own business the other day, cooking supper & teaching my oldest how to cook rice on the stove, when the phone rings and i pick it up. Now, understand that suppertime around our house is kinda' nuts at the best of times. But, that night, one had baseball, my dad was out doing renos, supper was running late, and the kids were getting hungry. So, I think I kinda' snapped a little "hello" into the phone. Well........on the other end of the line is the sweeeetest southern voice I'd ever heard asking for me. She introduces herself as, none-other-than "Nikki Sivils" -- THE Nikki Sivils -- and I have to quickly pull myself together because THIS is the phone call that I had been waiting for!!!!! Wow....i couldn't believe it...... Nikki was actually calling me IN PERSON. I felt very honoured and we had the greatest chat. She's just one of the nicest persons i've ever never met. She actually sent me some (i mean "a ton") of her papers in the mail after she found out i couldn't find them anywhere around here. Now, who actually does that?!? So we chatted & laughed & really connect.....especially after she............

invited me to be on her International DESIGN TEAM!!!!!

Woohoo!! I'm really pumped b/c she has some great products and you know HOW MUCH i love designing with the latest & greatest products in this industry. Seriously....go check her products out here and see for yourself.

So......I'll be posting on her blog, designing projects & layouts for her gallery, and chatting all her fabulous stuff up on my blog.

Go check her blog out today to see the line up that i'll be designing with.

Here's the layouts (& card) I submitted to her for the DT Call.

1. a layout about myself:

2. any layout that shows my style:
3. a card:

so, GO NOW, and check out Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker for the list of fabulous designers that will be joining Nikki's team!!!

enjoy your day {from the farm},

j.

hi friend

One of my everyday reads is the Studio blog over at American Crafts. love, Love, LOVE this company -- their products are so up my alley and they have amazing pattern paper; which is a HUGE passion of mine. totally gaga over their little felt embellishments too.

Anyway......they always post their weekly challenges and I always read them, do the challenge, and then never get around to posting them here and on their blog.

So.....this week (actually tonight) I {again} read their challenge, created the challenge, BUT..... am now posting it and will link this post on their blog later on tonight -- "hi to everyone who found me from the AC blog".

This is the challenge for this week:

So, like the true scrap-user that I am, I scrounged my scrap-island for American Crafts products and found a few. This is the card I created:

AC products used were: all the pattern paper on the card, including the butterfly punched pp -- minus the lace-punched ledger on the bottom; the felt tree & the chipboard bird.

Love layering and pop-dotting to add dimension to my creations. Here, I also had to use a new silver vinyl rub-on from my sister -- love ALL the stuff she sends me. :) I punched the edge of the card with my Crop-o-dile and tied ribbons through the holes to bind the card. Little hint: don't tie them too tight; the card won't open properly then.

Here's the inside of the card. The little stickers say "friend" -- for a "hi friend" card. Used some stickers from 7 gypsies to add a little somethin' somethin' to the inside.
I added a beautiful AC pattern paper to the back of the card for a little surprise. So often cards can be so boring from the back. LOVE this paper and needed to use it somewhere. Really pretty and a little bit of whimsy on the back never hurt anyone. :)

Hope you enjoy.

thankful for my hobby tonight {from the farm},

j.

your turn

Hope you have been trying some cards of your own this week. Here are the last two cards for now:

Card #5: forever

This wedding card is created using an incredible background stamp & black StazOn ink. I stamped the image over light blue & tan Alcohol Inks. A silver Krylon pen frames the whole image. I then adhered the image to the front of a salmon-coloured cardstock card (I made the card myself -- not pre-purchased). Using a fabulous vinyl rub-on from this ingenius company, I rubbed the butterfly onto the front of the card, butting it right up to the edge of the card. I added a violet flower, which I first stamped with a multiple word stamp using black StazOn ink. For the finishing touch, I pop-dotted a MM Signage embellishment to the center of the flower; "forever". I would be happy to give out this wedding card to a friend or relative.

Card #6: baby

The Alcohol Ink colours used and the stamped image on this card are my fave!!!!! They turned out exactly how they are supposed to -- thanks to all the tips & tricks from the "Queen-of-Stamping", Heather. I know it's hard to see from the photo, but I stamped the word "baby" with CTMH White Daisy ink using those cute little letter stamps from ki memories. just discovered them again in my stash and love them!!! :) The puffy sticker of the little slug in the corner is from atd: a division of Momenta. Found them in the aisles at Walmart -- am I supposed to tell y'all that??!? Anyway, love the dimension & whimsey they give to projects. And that's my baby card. Not the conventional type of baby card; but one with a jill-twist.

Thanks for tuning in to read all about these cards.

Now it's your turn to create.

happiness {from the farm},

j.

More Cards

Card #3: Happy Birthday

For this card, I used blue & yellow Alcohol Ink colours. It's very bad that I don't have the exact colour names on me but, like I said yesterday, I borrowed them from Heather and I gave them back already. ooops!! Anyway, the two stamps I used are a very cool written background stamp (in blue StazOn) and a pretty tree and bird stamp over top (in black StazOn). I actually covered up the bird part of the stamp with the raised foam & felt embellishment because the image kind-of smeared when I stamped it. ooops, again!!!! But, like I stand by, "Mistakes make for Creative Possibilities". I stamped the "happy" part of the title with ki memories letter stamps & CTMH Breeze ink. I then hand-wrote the "birthday" part with a black journaling marker.

Almost forgot: I used my Marvy Paper Trimmer {the scalloped edge} to give some funk to the top edges of all the cards.

Card #4: Thankful

This card is one of my favourites for two reasons: 1. the stamped image worked out really well; 2. this pretty new butterfly that I found in the fabric department at Walmart.

Alcohol Inks used are in the green & tan hues. The stamped image is framed in gold Krylon pen. I added some ribbon trim to the side of the card. One of the ribbons is actually backwards because it was a little over-powering for the image. I created a loop with the ribbon at the top of the card and stapled the edge over. I then added another little piece of ribbon with some colour to the side as well. Nothing Rocket-Science; just some ribbon that was laying on my desk. I love the little butterfly that adds some dimension to this card. Butterflies are so "in" right now. A nice, quick "Thank You" card.

Tune in tomorrow for the last 2 cards.

smiles {from the farm},

j.

Celebrating with Cards

So, I promised you some more details about those Alcohol Inked cards that I created last week.

Card #1: Hello



This card was created using the light shades in the Alcohol Ink collection. I actually do not own them; my dear sister-in-law borrowed them to me for some projects. This daisy motive is actually the sample that she first taught me at her house one evening.

Sidebar: If you want to talk "Queen-of-Stamping" -- she's it; Heather Hildebrand. I definitely want to feature some of her & her creations on here one of these days. She is amazingly talented and definitely knows her way around an ink pad & set of stamps {and, of course, all the little extras that give things glimmer & shine}!!!!!

Anyway......I used glossy accents paper, alcohol inks (by Ranger) & StazOn black ink. Because this stamp has A LOT of negative space, I had to put a piece of fun foam under the paper to get a good impression. I framed all the Alcohol Ink images with a silver or gold Krylon paint pen, that you can purchase at any Canadian Tire store. Mat in turquoise cardstock, add some funky lace cardstock, a popped up MM embelly & some letter stickers........et Voila!!! A great little "hello" card to give to a friend.

Card #2: "Hoppy Easter"

For this card, I used Alcohol Inks in more red & pink hues, with a touch of Sandstone. The image is framed in gold Krylon pen and pop-dotted onto the front of the card. I love the little stamp on this one. The back strip of {what you think is pp} on the front is actually this really funky & edgy decorative packing tape {that I always use!!!!!} from this company. Love them!!!!!! I think I have every colour, but not every style........yet!!!!

I used the MM Word Fetti II: Garden Party to create all the titles on this card. Love these little sticker words. :) Some staples & doodling to seal the deal ........ and it's complete.

Stayed tuned for cards 3 & 4 tomorrow.

later {from the farm},

j.

Spent the day yesterday creating some Alcohol Ink / Stamped cards.

no special occassion.

just needing to do something while all the kids were at school.

could have baked.

could have read.

could have done bathrooms or laundry.
but decided to do cards.

let's celebrate days like this as well.

i'll spend next week on some more detailed explanation about the making of these cards.

enjoy.

{from the farm},

j.